Stanley Parallel Pin Punch Set, 6 Pieces, 152 mm, 4-18-226

Stanley Parallel Pin Punch Set, 6 Pieces, 4-18-226

Stanley 4-18-226 is a set of 6 parallel pin punches in chrome vanadium steel. Each is 152 mm long and the tip diameters span 1.5 to 8 mm. The finish is hi-vis yellow.

What a parallel pin punch does

A pin punch has one specific job: to drive a pin, rivet or shaft out of its bore without damaging the bore itself. That is why its tip is cylindrical (parallel) rather than tapered - a taper would spread the bore and wedge the pin in harder.

Typical cases: stripping hinges, driving a pin out of a gear or pulley, replacing a shaft during a tool repair, removing a rivet. In all of them the correct move is the same: pick a punch slightly smaller than the pin and strike along its axis.

Why six of them

The punch diameter has to match the pin. A punch too thin bends and mushrooms under the blow; one too thick will not enter the bore and hammers on its rim instead. Six sizes cover practically everything found in machines, tools and ironmongery.

The usual working sequence uses two tools: first a taper drift to start a seized pin moving, then a parallel punch to drive it fully out. The parallel punch is longer and thinner and would not survive the initial blow on a firmly stuck pin.

Chrome vanadium steel

The material is chrome vanadium, quenched and tempered. That combination is needed because of the double load: the tip must be hard so it does not mushroom against the pin, while the head must stay tough enough not to shed fragments under a hammer blow. Fragments off a cheap punch fly at considerable speed - which is also why eye protection is mandatory on this job.

The hi-vis finish

The yellow powder coating has an entirely practical reason: a punch is thin, dark and gets dropped into swarf, under a machine or into the grass. A hi-vis colour makes it findable.

Technical specifications

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